FRISCO — Sunday’s morning stroll took me up along the Tenderfoot Trail, near Dillon, where I watched an unusual early morning thunderstorm form directly overhead, then dissipate as fast as it formed. The gray clouds weren’t exactly what I was looking for when I went out to shoot photos, but you work with you get, right? And patience paid off, as I did manage to get within range of a mountain bluebird (see below). Later in the day, we trekked out to a vantage point to watch our resident bald eagles fledge their chicks, hiking back to the road just as the sun dipped behind Buffalo Mountain, to end another perfect weekend in the Colorado high country. Continue reading →

FRISCO — After a couple of weeks of stalking (in a good way) I finally grabbed a shot of one of the muskrats living in our backyard pond. But it wasn’t until I let my guard down, so to speak. Instead of intently hunting the little aquatic mammal, I was just enjoying the reflections dancing on the water, and taking pictures of random leaves floating by. Suddenly, the critter surfaced just a few feet away, right in front of the lens. I’m not really a wildlife photographer, but in the last couple of weeks, as I set out to try and photograph the local bald eagle and the muskrat, I realized more than ever that patience is one of the key virtues to get good animal shots. Click and scroll to see the muskrat and more early October scenes in Summit County, Colorado. Continue reading →

David Petraeus, the former CIA director and top Army general whose affair with his biographer brought down what many considered a bright political future, has agreed to plead guilty to mishandling classified materials.